Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many ministerial red boxes belonging to her Department have (a) been reported missing or lost or (b) had their security features removed in order that they can be purchased for personal use by former ministers from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The department has no record of any ministerial boxes being lost or going missing between 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023 nor have any boxes had security features removed for personal use. It is a long standing convention under successive administrations that Ministers may pay to retain boxes as a memento of their time in their role. Alternatively former Ministers are able to purchase new boxes from the relevant provider as a memento.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the invitation to tender published by her Department on 21 December 2022 with procurement reference C5445, which organisation was awarded the resulting contract; when they are due to submit their (a) draft and (b) final reports; and what was the agreed value of that contract.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Resource Futures were awarded the contract. The agreed value of the contract is £38,666.25 (excluding VAT) and we expect the research to be completed in the summer.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of spending on external consultants by (a) the Environment Agency, (b) Natural England and (c) the Water Services Regulation Authority in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022; and whether any of that spending related to the preparation of funding bids to (A) her Department and (B) HM Treasury.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
(a) Environment Agency
Financial Year | Consultancy (£m) |
2019/20 | 14 |
2020/21 | 8.5 |
2021/22 | 8.2 |
Notes:
(b) Natural England
As per the definition of consultancy which is “The provision to management of objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation. Such advice will be provided outside the ‘business-as-usual’ environment when in-house skills are not available and will be time-limited”, Natural England incurred nil consultancy spend in 2020 and 2021.
In 2022 £18,100 consultancy spend was incurred for the provision of specialist advice for the Customer Spending Review.
(c) Water Services Regulation Authority
Ofwat's spend on external consultants is listed in its Annual Report and Accounts: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ARA-final.pdf (see page 84); and previous year https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Ofwat-Annual-report-and-accounts-2020-2021.pdf (see page 92).
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to answer Questions 118879 and 118881 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, and 119016 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Waste, tabled on 9 January 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
A response for PQ 118879 was published on 30th January. Responses for PQs 118881 and 119016 were published on 1st February.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with a Government procurement card, at which Hilton hotel did the Environment Agency conduct conflict resolution training for members of the Voluntary Bailiff Service in December 2021; and for what reason was that training required.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
This payment was for venue hire, accommodation and subsistence for the training of nine delegates from the Voluntary Bailiff Service (Phase 2), a pilot partnership project between the Angling Trust and Environment Agency. This health and safety training was a two-day (27 and 28 Nov 2021) conflict resolution course, which the Environment Agency requires volunteers to attend and pass as part of its commitment to helping staff stay safe whilst rod licence and byelaw compliance checking. Health and safety training is key for this role, but this is not something the Environment Agency can deliver in-house.
The Environment Agency has a contract with Calders to procure venues for meetings and training. The training took place at Double Tree by Hilton, Dartford Bridge, Masthead Close, Crossways Business Park, Dartford, Kent, DA2 6QF. Out of three suitable venues identified by Calders in the locality specified, this venue came in as the second most competitive option. The most competitive location had become unavailable after the original booking due to an electrical fault.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s Greening Government Commitments for 2021-25, how many tonnes of food waste were produced from her Departmental estate in Financial Year (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 up to 31 December 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In line with the Greening Government Commitments (GGC), Defra has committed to measure and report on food waste, for estates with over 50 full-time equivalent staff and/or over 500m2 floor area offering a food service.
The requested information for 2021-2022 will be published in the GGC Annual Report for 2021-2022, due later this year. The data for April 1st 2022 to December 31st 2022 will be published in the Annual Report covering 2022-2023.
GGC annual reporting is delayed due to Covid-19 impacts, but the Government remains committed to reducing the environmental impact of its estate and operations.
Defra includes sustainability clauses in its contracts around food quality, food miles and reducing waste.
It is also worth noting that food waste is a function of the number of staff we have and how many are using our offices.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the Greening Government Commitments annual reports for (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Greening Government Commitments 2020-21 annual report was delayed to reduce pressure on facilities teams across government, as a result of COVID-19. The report will be published in early 2023. This will be the final report of the previous framework
The Greening Government Commitments 2021-22 annual report, the first report against the 2021-2025 framework, will be published later this year.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the transaction for £1,567.63 on 14 December 2021 included in her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with a Government procurement card, how many members of Marine Management Organisation staff stayed at the Island Club Turks; and what the purpose was of that visit.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Three members of the MMO Global Marine Team travelled to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) under the UK Government’s Blue Belt Programme. The Blue Belt programme aims to enhance protection of the marine environment in the UK’s overseas territories. The TCI Government signed up to the programme in 2021 and formally announced this at World Ocean Day in 2022. The purpose of the visit was to meet with TCI Government Ministers and hold workshops with key stakeholders to scope support that the programme would provide to TCI.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with a Government procurement card in November 2021, what accounts for the difference between the price of the payments made to Hotel Ibis by the Joint Nature Conservation Society on (a) 2 November for £2,719.00 and (b) 5 November 2021 for 2,649.80 for the accommodation of four staff between 31 October and 9 November 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
A team of JNCC's experts attended the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow in November 2021. Their involvement included hosting eleven livestream events on nature-based solutions for a net zero and resilient future, monitoring landscape change, addressing threats through global, national, and local approaches, international partnerships and oceans action.
The payments to the IBIS hotel for 31 October to 9 November 2021 were for two JNCC staff members for ten nights and one staff member staying for two nights, at a total cost of £5,368.80. All were attending the CoP-26 conference in Glasgow. The difference in the two sums is because the hotel divided up the total cost into two- part payments.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her Department's policy that government procurement cards should not be used for purchases (a) of alcohol and (b) that could be made via an alternative compliant purchasing route.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Government Procurement Cards are one of many routes to market and purchasing. Cards are used for low value, low risk goods and services and non-contentious irregular items from one-off suppliers. These items can also be procured through a self-service purchase order route.
Alcohol purchases are permitted only in exceptional circumstances and require additional approval from a senior civil servant.